The invention relates to provision of transaction processing facilities using voice verification as a means of enabling a caller to gain access to carry out a transaction.
There has been rapid growth in xe2x80x9ce-commercexe2x80x9d in recent years, in which Web browsers communicate with Web servers using HTML to perform a transaction such as purchasing a consumer product. However one of the major problems being addressed in development of this technology is that of providing adequate security for consumer data such as credit card numbers. Another problem is that of delays in gaining access to servers and having the transaction processed, because of limited telecommunication bandwidth and high traffic volume.
In parallel with these developments, systems for online transaction processing using voice as the communication medium have been developed. An example is the system described in our European Patent Specification No. EP 1 005 002 A1. Another example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,288. Such systems do not require the user to operate a browser and indeed a conventional telephone is sufficient. Another advantage is that there is a low bandwidth requirement.
However, despite the fact that each individual transaction involves (on average) relatively little data and bandwidth, it is at times difficult for a server to handle all incoming connections. Also, failure of any link between the consumer and the voice verification server results in failure of the transaction.
The invention is therefore directed towards providing a voice verification system which provides improved fault resilience and optimum utilisation of voice verification servers and other necessary resources.
According to the invention, there is provided a voice verification system comprising a verification engine connected to an interactive voice response system (IVR) to verify callers of a hosted service, characterised in that,
the verification engine is hosted on a verification server comprising means for interfacing with a plurality of IVRs to perform centralised voice verification, and
each IVR is connected to an interface to the verification server.
In one embodiment, each interface comprises a Dynamic Library Linked (DLL) API.
In one embodiment, each interface comprises means for communicating with the server via s plurality of Internet Service Provider servers (ISPs).
In one embodiment, each interface comprises means for maintaining a communication socket for each ISP/verification server link, and means for dynamically choosing a preferred socket in real time for each verification operation.
In one embodiment, the system comprises a plurality of verification servers and each interface comprises means for maintaining a socket for each ISP/verification server combination.
In one embodiment, each interface comprises means for transmitting a polling signal on each socket to request a verification time indicator.
In one embodiment, each verification server comprises means for responding to a polling signal with queue time value.
In one embodiment, each interface comprises means for automatically monitoring polling signal response time, and for adding each response time to the associated queue time value to determine a current verification cycle time.
In one embodiment, each interface comprises means for dynamically choosing an available socket having a lowest current verification cycle time.
In one embodiment, each interface comprises means for determining the current verification cycle time for each socket in a background process activated at configurable time periods and in parallel with verification communication.
In one embodiment, the system further comprises a switching system connected between the ISPs and the verification servers.
In one embodiment, the switching system comprises a router associated with each ISP.
In one embodiment, each router is connected to a plurality of switches between the routers and the verification servers.
In one embodiment, each switch has a single output, and said output is connected to a firewall, and an output of each firewall is connected to a switch in a second switch stage.
In one embodiment, each switch in said second switch stage is connected to a plurality of verification servers.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a voice verification system comprising:
an interactive voice response (IVR) layer comprising IVR applications at remote locations;
an API layer comprising APIs for the IVR applications;
a plurality of Internet Service Provider (ISP) servers registered with the APIs;
a switching system comprising a router associated with each registered ISP server;
a verification server layer comprising a plurality of verification servers connected to the switching system, wherein each API comprises means for maintaining a socket for each ISP/verification server combination, for polling each verification server in a background polling process, for receiving a response from each verification server indicating current verification queue time, and for dynamically choosing a socket for a voice verification operation according to said queue time.
In one embodiment, each API comprises means for monitoring polling signal response time, for adding the response time to said verification queue time to determine a verification cycle time, and for dynamically choosing a socket having the lowest current verification cycle time.
In one embodiment, the switching system comprises, between the routers and the verification servers:
a first stage of switches in which each router is connected to a plurality of said first stages switches;
a firewall connected to an output of each first stage switch; and
a second stage of switches each connected to an output of each firewall, and in which each said second stage switch is connected to a plurality of verification servers.